Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Playing in dirt is good for kids, navigate maze faster than control group


Smarter, less anxious: study; Outdoor learning experiences and school gardens help students relax and learn better, researchers suggest

Parents, here's another reason for your kids to play outdoors in the dirt: It might make them smarter.

And, as a side benefit, dirt appears to be a natural anti-anxiety drug, but without the side effects.

Mice exposed to a bacterium found in soil navigated a maze twice as fast, and with less anxiety, as control mice, in studies presented yesterday at the 110th general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego.

The researchers say we've become so urbanized we risk losing a connection with an organism in nature that may actually be beneficial to humans.

Dr. Dorothy Matthews became intrigued by Mycobacterium vaccae - a natural soil microbe - in 2007, when British scientists published a study showing that when mice were injected with a heat-killed version of the organism, it stimulated neurons in the brainstem to start producing serotonin.

"Serotonin is a molecule that has a number of different effects, but one of them is modulating mood and decreasing anxiety," says Matthews, an associate professor of biology at The Sage Colleges in Troy, NY.

Serotonin also plays a role in learning. "If you're nervous, if you're frightened, you just can't think straight," Matthews said. She wondered, could M. vaccae have an effect on learning in mice?

The bacteria-exposed mice consistently ran the maze twice as fast as non-exposed mice. They also showed fewer anxiety behaviours - less freezing, wall-climbing, stopping and grooming, returning to the start, or defecation.

After the bacteria were removed, the mice started running the mazes slower than they did when they were ingesting the bacteria. "They experienced a kind of serotonin withdrawal," Matthews said. They were still faster than the controls, on average, an effect that lasted for another month of testing.

Matthews says people are exposed to M. vaccae just by virtue of being outdoors. "It's only been the last 100 years or so that we've become more urbanized and are eating our foods in a different way."

We no longer eat foods that we grow or gather ourselves, she says - foods that haven't been "washed multiple times, and dunked in hot water, or processed or grown with pesticides."

Making time in school curriculums for children to learn outdoors might decrease their anxiety and improve their ability to learn new tasks, she says.

"There's a movement now in some schools to actually have gardens that are part of the school experience."

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Top Ten Maze Cartoons of May By Yonatab Frimer

Top Ten Maze Cartoons by Yonatan Frimer for May 2010.


Want to check out some more extremely cool mazes? These links are for you!
Political Maze on Go Comics - Sign up for daily maze cartoons
Team Of Monkeys . com - Cartoon mazes and solutions
Ink Blot Mazes - Maze Art
Buy maze art Prints On Demand from Fine Art America



Maze Cartoon of all of Obama's eggs in the wrong basket.

All the eggs in the wrong basket
Editorial Cartoon maze on the Obama Administration's modus operandi of putting all their eggs in the "Campaign Promises" basket and none in the "Strategic Decision" basket. Created by Yonatan Frimer
Click here for a printable, hi-res version of this maze
Click here or on the image for the solution to the maze.



Maze Cartoon of your job on drugs, I mean financial reform.
This is your brain on financial reform
Editorial Cartoon maze poking fun at the 1987 commercial "This is your brain on drugs" by making the egg "jobs" and the frying pan is financial reform. Any questions? Created by Yonatan Frimer
Click here for a printable, hi-res version of this maze
Click here or on the image for the solution to the maze.
Maze Cartoon of Steve Jobs Getting Flashed, by Yonatan Frimer

steve jobs fear of flash maze cartoon

Editorial Cartoon maze of Steve Jobs getting flashed and he thinks to himself, "Avoid anything that is relatable to this incident, even just by name" Created by Yonatan Frimer
Click here for a printable, hi-res version of this maze
Click here or on the image for the solution to the maze.

Cartoon maze of how the Tea Party started. By Yonatan Frimer

how the tea party started maze

Cartoon maze editorial of a bunch of sheep in a field. One sheep stands up and exclaims, "I will no longer be a follower!" The rest of the flock yells, "Me too!" and the group in the front explaim "If this catches on, we got to get that fox on board."
Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution



Good year to be a Cameron, cartoon maze:
James and David Cameron
Cartoon maze editorial both David Cameron, the new prime minister of England and of James Cameron, who produced and directed Avatar, a movie that has broken many records for generating the most revenue. 2010 sure is a good year if your last name is Cameron.
Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution


Maze Cartoon - Effects of Human Error on Stock Market

human error in stock market maze cartoon
Maze cartoon editorial showcasing how stocks are effected by human error, buy having a bull represent stocks and a cowboy wrangling him to represent human error.
Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution




The all new electric hummer, h3

hummer hybrid electric

Editorial maze cartoon of the all new Electric Hummer. No longer will Humvees and Hummers be called gas guzzlers. Now they are better for the environment than a Toyota Prius.
Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution


Want to check out some more extremely cool mazes? Check these out...
Political Maze on Go Comics - Sign up for daily maze cartoons
Team Of Monkeys . com - Cartoon mazes and solutions
Ink Blot Mazes - Maze Art
Buy maze art Prints On Demand from Fine Art America


gulf and Golf with Tiger Woods
Editorial maze cartoon of Tiger Woods in the Gulf, the crewman apologizes for the mix up, says "We need a GULF clean up"
Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution




Cartoon maze of Lustiger and Fahd in Paris
Editorial maze cartoon of a conversation between King Fahd and Jean-Marie Lustiger on having a grand mosque built in Paris. Lustiger replies, "Sure, just as soon as I can build a grand cathedral in Mecca."
Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution


BP Maze disaster - Cartoon Maze
BP oil spill cartoon maze

Want to check out some more extremely cool mazes? These links are for you!
Political Maze on Go Comics - Sign up for daily maze cartoons
Team Of Monkeys . com - Cartoon mazes and solutions
Ink Blot Mazes - Maze Art
Buy maze art Prints On Demand from Fine Art America

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, pro golfer Tiger Woods

Maze Cartoon - Tigers Woods in the Gulf

gulf and Golf with Tiger Woods
Editorial maze cartoon of Tiger Woods in the Gulf, the crewman apologizes for the mix up, says "We need a GULF clean up."
Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution

Visit these sites for more Yonatan Frimer Mazes
Latest Political Maze Cartoon
Political Maze on Comic Sherpa
Yonatan Frimer Maze Art
Buy Maze Art
Maze Blog
Team Of Monkeys Maze Blog

Thanks, hope you've enjoyed this Maze cartoon of Tiger Woods Gulf Golfer. The entrance and exit of the maze is at the upper-right and lower-left corners of the image. A link to the solution of the maze is right under the image. Created by Yonatan Frimer

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Greece Economy Cartoon Maze, by Yonatan Frimer

Maze Cartoon on the Economy of Greece.

Maze Cartoon for Editorial use on the Economy of Greece. A 747 marked "Economy of Greece" flys while chained to two bags of debt that are carried by the IMF and EU. Created by Yonatan Frimer



You can check out more of Yonatan Frimer's maze art at:
Political Cartoon Maze
Maze Art
Maze art for sale
Maze Blog
Another Maze Blog by Yonatan Frimer
And yet another maze blog

Maze Cartoon topic in the news:

EU/IMF Greece Plan Sees Around EUR110 Billion In Funding Gap

BERLIN -(Dow Jones)- Greece faces a funding gap of around EUR110 billion over the next three years, according to the details of a bailout plan from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union seen by Dow Jones Newswires Sunday.

Earlier Sunday, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said that the new measures imposed to secure access to the unprecedented bailout package are the harshest and most austere ever imposed in European history.

The plan, dated May 2, didn't give details of how much each euro-zone country and the IMF will give in loans.

"We anticipate covering the program's financing requirements with financial support from euro-area member states and the IMF while strengthening access to the private capital market," the document said.

"Notwithstanding the significant fiscal adjustment, we project a public financing gap of around 110 billion (euros), for the program period, which we expect to cover through matching bilateral lending support from euro area member states and through IMF support," said the plan.

According to the document...Read more: